eBay to buy mobile payment company Zong

We’ve covered the mobile payment company Zong many times here and it’s been fun to watch this company grow along with the smartphone boom. It looks like all of its hard work will be paying off, as eBay plans to purchase the company for about $240 million.

Zong specializes in letting consumers purchase digital and real-life goods using their phones with carrier billing. The company may not have the highest profile but it has established multiple deals with carriers around the world.

“Commerce is changing. With mobile phones, we walk around with a mall in our pockets. PayPal helps to make money work better for customers in this new commerce reality – no matter how they want to pay or what device they’re using,” said Scott Thompson, president of PayPal, in a prepared statement. “We believe that Zong will strengthen this value by helping us reach the more than 4 billion people who have mobile phones, giving them more choice and security when they pay.”

The eBay, Zong deal looks like a good fit, as mobile payments are expected to be a massive market over the next few years. While things like Google Wallet grabs the headlines, this deal could enable eBay to reach billions of users in emerging markets.